Zamfara State Governor, Mr. Dauda Lawal, has declared that he inherited a dysfunctional state from his predecessor, Bello Matawalle.
Lawal said he took over a state completely in a mess, which was besotted by multi-dimensional problems.
Lawal made the assertions yesterday in an interview on Arise TV.
He said he saw only N4 million in the state’s treasury when he took over in 2023, with N16.5 billion pension arrears that remained unpaid since 2011.
The governor said, “I took over a dysfunctional system where nothing exists. No process, no planning, no budgeting and financial indiscipline was rife.
“Everywhere was disconnected, including the Government House, because of non-payment of electricity bill. I had to pay N1.6 billion to restore electricity supply, especially in government offices.
“The problem was multidimensional and we had to prioritise and our first priority is security and the next is education.
“When I took over as governor, Zamfara State was in a mess in every aspect of life. Insecurity, we were at the top; education, we were at the bottom; human development and capacity were almost non-existent.
“They were the reasons why I had to declare a state of emergency in education and health.”
Lawal stated, “Remember that when I took over there was nothing in our treasury. There were so many debts.
“I only inherited N4 million and the records are there, with all sorts of liabilities ranging from backlog of salaries. N1.6 billion was owed to the judiciary. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Education Council (NECO) were owed N1.4 billion and so many other challenges that I had to face head on.”
He explained that his first move was to clear the backlog of salaries, and he had agreements with WAEC and NECO so that students in Zamfara State could sit for their WASC and NECO examinations and those that had taken these exams in the past years could collect their results.
He stated, “The liabilities were unbelievable and I had to find a way to settle them. When I took over, the salary of a civil servant in Zamfara State was N7,000. I had to quickly raise to the level of then minimum wage of N30,000.
“Since 2011, pensioners were not paid to the tune of N16.5 billion. This has been cleared. And we are currently paying the N70,000 minimum new wage.”
The governor explained that the condition of schools in the state was unbelievable when he declared state of emergency in education.
He said over 400 schools across the 14 local governments in the state had been renovated and furnished and the state government had been able to settle its indebtedness to WAEC and NECO as well as liabilities on our students in Sudan and India, and it was now in the process of sorting out Cyrus.
According to the governor, education is prioritised because nothing can be accomplished without a strong educational sector.
“We are employing 500 teachers in specialised fields, like science, mathematics and Information Technology,” he said.
He explained that it was the desire to attract meaningful investors that would build a solid economy in the state that compelled him to take on the airport project in the state.
He argued that no serious investor would drive seven hours on road from Abuja to Zamfara in the midst of prevailing insecurity challenges, and assured the people that the airport would be ready within four months.
Lawal said he had been able to accomplish these achievements without borrowing, even though the internally generated revenue of the state was N90 million when he took over.
Today, according to him, Zamfara State was generating N2 billion revenue by blocking leakages in the state’s public finance and shedding the weight of the state’s civil service from 82 to 20 permanent secretaries.
The governor said most of his trips outside the state were to engage development institutions that would provide financial resources to the state.
He said there was no local government where the state government was not implementing a N5 billion project.
According to him, “What people are saying is that we are building roads in Gusau, which we have to because it is the capital of Zamfara State.
“There are local governments in the state with good road networks but it is only animals that are plying those roads. So, they do not need roads.
“They need hospitals, schools, water and these are what we are providing. There is water in all the local governments. There are hostels.
“We are doing specialist and general hospital in Gasau that will be commissioned in May. We have so far renovated over 70 Primary Health Centres in the state.
“So it is political statement to say that we are not doing anything in the rural areas.”
He also declared his opposition to the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, adding that he is one of the governors that are in court to challenge it.
When asked if emergency rule would be declared in Zamfara State to resolve the faceoff between him and his predecessor, the current Minister of State for Defence, the governor stated that he was not the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. (Thisday)
